Individual Differences in
Defense Mechanisms
• Freud concerned with DMs at level of
human nature
• Later researchers examined individual
differences
– E.g.,. Which defenses one tends to use
– Developmental changes in defense
Individual Differences in
Degree of Defensiveness
• Repressor – Sensitizor Concept
• Definition:
– Repressor: Avoid conscious experience of
anxiety
– Sensitizor: Approach conscious experience of
anxiety
• Variability in normal personality styles
Measurement of RS
• Original RS scale ambiguous in terms of
whether or not low anxiety was a result of
psychological defenses
• Later scheme used two measures together:
– Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale (TMAS)
– Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale
(MCSD)
Measurement of RS
• TMAS – measure of dispositional anxiety
– Low =
High =
• MCSD - measure of social desirability or
defensiveness; tendency to present overly
positive image to self (self-deception) and
others (impression management). E.g., I
never get mad
– Low =
High =
Measurement of RS
•
•
•
•
Repressor
Low Anxious
Defensive Anx.
Sensitizor
TMAS
MCSD
Low
Low
High
High
High
Low
High
Low
Validity of RS measurement
• I. Self-reported anxiety
–
–
–
–
Classify Ps as repressors/sensitizors
Put in threatening situation
Assess anxiety
Problems?
Validity of RS measurement
• II. Self-reported anxiety and physiological
responses
–
–
–
–
Classify Ps as repressors/sensitizors
Put in threatening situation
Assess anxiety and monitor GSR
Self-report/GSR dissociation
Validity of RS measurement
• III. Childhood memories
–
–
–
–
–
Classify Ps as repressors/sensitizors
Ask Ps to recall childhood memories
Prediction
Findings
Mechanisms: Encoding and retrieval effort
(alpha waves for Rs)
Repressors Vs. Sensitizors
• Health Implications
• Advantages/disadvantages of different
styles
• Adaptability of defense mechanisms
Research on Unconscious
• Two questions:
– Unconscious content (can we
demonstrate existence of unconscious
content?)
– Unconscious process (can we be affected
by stimuli not consciously perceived?)
Unconscious Content
• Unconscious = material available but
not accessible
– Hypermnesia - recall previously
inaccessible material
• Clinical; recovered memories
– Problem; paramnesia (false
memory)
Unconscious Content
• Hypermnesia
– Lab; Erdelyi
• Present stimuli (words, pictures)
• Exhaustive recall tx 1
• Free associate
• Exhaustive recall tx 2
• Results tx2 > tx1 (false memory controlled)
Unconscious Content
• Dissociation - nonunitary
consciousness (no awareness of
material but external evidence for
material)
– Clinical:
• DID
• Emotion awareness
–Problem: report bias
Unconscious Content
• Dissociation - Lab research
– Hypnosis (Hilgard)
• Suggestion: No experience of pain
• Immerse hand cold water
–No pain reported but automatic
writing suggests pain
Unconscious Content
• Dissociation - Lab research
– Implicit/Explicit memory divergence
• Explicit memory - conscious, deliberate
recall
• Implicit memory - material affects task
performance
Implicit-Explicit Memory
Experiment
• Demonstrate implicit but no explicit memory
• Present Words
» Hair
Explicit test Implicit test
0
HA_ _
» Bear
BE_ _
• Antegrade amnesiacs
• Normal participants (with delay)
Unconscious Content
• Implicit Stereotypes
• An implicit stereotype is a stereotype that is
powerful enough to operate without conscious
control.
• The more closely associated two concepts are, the
easier it is to respond to them as a single unit. So,
if young and good are strongly associated, it
should be easier to respond faster when you are
asked to give the same response
Unconscious Processes
• Perceptions
– Semantic Priming
• Prime
•
•
•
•
Doctor
Doctor
Hammer
Hammer
Target
Lexical Decisions
Nail
Nurse*
Nail*
Nurse
Faster for related
target/prime pairs
Related concepts
activated
– Masked primes (not perceived) yield same
effect
Unconscious Processes
• Perceptions
– Social Priming
• Person perception (inherent ambiguity)
• Activated (primed) constructs affect
perceptions
• Occurs without awareness
Unconscious Processes
• Perceptions
– Social Priming Experiment (Higgins, Srull)
– Study 1 (prime hostility)
• Sentence completion: hit cat the his
• 80% (primed hostile) vs. 20%)
– Study 2 (person perception)
• ambiguous description (e.g., refuse to donate)
– Primed hostile perceive target more negatively
• no awareness; can prime subliminally
Unconscious Processes
• Affective reactions
– Zajonc. Mere exposure effect: Familiarity
produces liking
•
•
•
•
Present stimuli left ear
Shadow prose right ear
Prefer exposed stimuli but no recognition
Occurs with other stimuli (e.g., geometric shapes)
Unconscious Processes
• Affective reactions
– Silverman. Psychopathology. Explicit test of
psychoanalytic model
– Model:
• Unconscious activate wish > Defense mechanisms >
Related pathology if defenses inadequate
– Subliminal presentation of aggressive stimuli
increase levels of depressed for clinically
depressed
Unconscious Processes
Related Issue: What is the quality of
unconscious thought?
Is it superior to conscious thought?
Although controversial, some research
(Dijksterhuis) suggests unconscious
decisions are better
Unconscious vs. Conscious Thought
• What is conscious thought?
– Thinking about something while consciously
attending to it
• What is unconscious thought?
– Thinking about something while not attending
to it
• Associating, reasoning, weighing, evaluating while
consciously thinking about something else
Dijksterhuis (2006)
• Participants receive information about 4 apartments
• Each apartment is described by 12 aspects (Apt. A is big,
Apt. C is in a nice area).
• Information for each apartment is presented for 15 secs.
• Three apartments have 5 positive and 7 negative aspects.
• One is better: 8 positive and 4 negative.
• Participants choose an apartment
•
1. Immediately
•
2. After thinking about it for three minutes
•
3. After being distracted for three minutes
(unconscious thought)
Percentage Choosing Best
Apartment
60
55
50
45
immediate
conscious
unconscious
40
35
30
25
condition
Unconscious Thought
• Always better?
– Complex rather than simple
– Processing not acquiring (input assumed to be
acquired)
– Some failures to replicate